Liberty Market

While others were out trolling the beaches, running away to a pine top destination or barely escaping arrests in Las Vegas, I spent my Memorial Day in town. For a few reasons actually.

1- I hate traffic, sitting in traffic, driving in traffic and getting cut off in traffic. I much more prefer the open road, free of all things blood pressure rising.

2- My sister's mother in law was in town visiting and I love love love her.

3-My friend's daughter was graduating from 8th grade and somehow I made the super exclusive list to this memorial day party (Loved the hot dogs, btw)

This weekend was the first in a long long time that I didn't really have any specific errands, except get my car looked at and the oil changed. By the way..... and this is VERY important for you all to know.....Wal Mart sucks. Seriously. Hang with me for a moment and we'll get back to the relaxing part. Did you know that when Wal Mart says that the check all fluids, they actually mean they will check all the fluids EXCEPT for the antifreeze and the brake fluid. Now, I'm not really a 'car person' per say but I kind of think that these two fluids are just a tiny little bit important. Luckily for me, I avoided this errand until today so I was fairly relaxed up until this afternoon.
All I did this weekend was enjoy a little free time. I played a ruthless card game of a version monopoly, which goes much faster than the board game version. I did a little shopping with the aforementioned mother in law, sister and my brother in law. Oh, and I also made time for a stop at my newest obsession.....frozen yogurt. I know I'm coming late to this party but there is something about 100 degree's outside that really has started to make me crave a tangy frosty concoction. And while this weekend was lovely, it wouldn't have been complete without a stop to taste some of the best local flavor that Gilbert has to offer. In this case, it was Liberty Market.

I've been to this place a few times before but never for breakfast. This morning, I met up with my sister, the BIL, his mom and their next door neighbours (who ,btw, are just as cutthroat as the rest of us when it comes to that monopoly game. Don't let those innocent faces fool you.). The food at Liberty Market is like gourmet farm food. Its fresh, delicious and inventive. Since we were meeting a little later, I made the stupid decision to eat a snack when I woke up at 6:30 this morning. Which meant that when we all met up, I wasn't as hungry as I should have been. It didn't stop me from ordering a bowl of granola and it sure as hell didn't stop me from trying the potatoes.
Liberty Market (the building) has been in some sort of existence since Gilbert was a framing district of roughly 800 people in 1935. My Great Grandfather raised his family in the nearby city of Chandler (as family lore has it, he was actually one of the first Mayors.) And I used to hear stories of the area while I was growing up. Hearing how your grandmother used to come to Gilbert when it was a dirt road, right in front of Liberty Market, and where the town would throw down wooden planks to create a dance floor, kinda makes you have a new appreciation for the place.
The dusty road has been paved and the market no longer deals in just flour, eggs and milk. But when you walk in the historic district of Gilbert you can almost smell the faint waft of farm land. That very distinct scent of wet alfalfa that has been laying under the sun all day and finally received a cool shower just as the summer night hits and the young kids come out to the end of the road to dance under the stars... not realizing that less then 30 years, the road will be paved and 20 years after that.....those in the know will come to Liberty Market for the taste bud pleasing offering of wood fire pizza's, delicious fresh gourmet sandwich's and desserts that make you want to skip the entree all together. There's so much that I can say about the food. You have to go once for breakfast, once for lunch, once for dinner and once just for the coffee bar.

This time around, the group ordered scrambled eggs, fluffy pancakes, flaky biscuits with perfectly cooked creamy gravy and farm fresh spiced sausage. While it was all so so so yummy, let me tell you about the breakfast potatoes. Warm, soft, cheesy goodness. I mean, that's the only way to describe it. There were diced potatoes, onions, and bell peppers all covered in a light blanket of cheddar cheese....*sigh*
Last time, I went for lunch and had the 'Rancher'. This simple sounding sandwich is a pressed sandwich of tender fillet of beef, layered with caramelized onion, blue cheese, arugula and horseradish aioli. My choice of side? An inventive roasted sweet potato salad that is both sweet and savory peppered with dried cranberries.
YUM YUM YUM
The only thing missing from this trip?? I should have gone back for a Salt River Bar. If you want to know the chocolate caramel salty goodness that is this treat....take yourself to Liberty Market. Or order the Bread Pudding....this version will make you a convert if your not already.

Go to Liberty Market...find out for yourself.

http://www.libertymarket.com/

That didn't go as planned....

It’s like a little bomb went off in my nice, neat, delusional, suburban mind. That’s really what I feel like.Its as if what was once a beautiful stepford neighborhood had an airplane crashed into it. Smoke billows from houses that have been hit, rubble lays across the street and people wander around looking for a safe place to sit. At least, that's how I feel. What started as a fun weekend for a friend’s birthday Friday night had by Sunday morphed into a full blown area of chaos. People’s feelings were hurt, friendships hung onto life support and at least one friendship was DOA by the time Sunday morning rolled its head back. Folks, it got so bad that I actually broke my 90 days and had a beer and a shot. Now I’ve been told that this isn’t so bad by a few people but after 55 days of not drinking at all .... it really bums me out.

What I'm left with are a bunch of hallow feelings and a knot in my stomach that refuses to go away. I want to start by saying that I graduated high school over 10 years ago. When I left that red brick prison, I didn't want to go back. Teenage girls are crazy, emotional basket cases that don't know their heads from their feet and will get into a screaming match with a friend over a nail file and then make up two seconds later.

The absolute worst moment of my high school life? The one that to this day makes me feel a little queasy? The time that one of my friends boyfriends came over for a New Years Eve party at my house. He was not the only one but as his girlfriend (my friend) was out of town he came to my party. I had known this kid for a hell of a lot longer than his girlfriend had, in fact he and I went way back to Jr. High Social Studies class where we sat next to each other. At midnight ,as we all celebrated outside, he leaned over me and pecked me on lips. Barley more than you would kiss your sister. His girlfriend and her friends were not happy at all. So happy, that they shunned me in English class. You haven't lived until girls that you thought were your friends and would actually listen when you said that you didn't kiss him HE kissed YOU. And as you sit in your English class and watch as one of her friends passes out cookies and then tell you (even though you didn't ask for one) that you can't have one because your a slut. That was super fun. Teenage girls are so kind. The funny thing is.....we all made up. Not before my heart was cut a little by the sharp talons of adolescence though. To this day, I am a bit sensitive to the cold shoulder. Which would explain my rabid response to it this weekend.

Friday night ,all excited for a weekend of fun, my friend and I checked into a casino for her birthday weekend. We had dinner plans at a fun restaurant and then we were going to go hang out by the pool. Just a nice relaxing Friday because Saturday night was supposed to be a night of debauchery. About the time that the bill came for our dinner and as I was paying, my friend started to get really quite. I'm not sure what the switch was.... but suddenly her attitude was more chilly than Vermont in February. I spent the next 5 hours trying to get her to go do stuff while all she wanted to do was sit on her bed in the hotel and watch CNN. The next day as she still was giving me the cold shoulder (yes...for those of you counting it was bout 12 hours later), I had finally had enough. Eventually, it turned out I did in fact do something to upset her and rather than tell me that I hurt her feelings, she decided to just ignore me. Which then brought out the rabid mean girl inside of me that I didn't know was still hiding inside my heart.

I'm not happy that person reared her ugly little blond head this weekend. The fact that mean Kat came out is most likely why I'm left with all these hollow feelings. Alot like I had just broken into a bakery and halfway through eating all the macaroons realized that they were a poor substitute for chocolate and the cops are coming so I better get my ass out of there.

Right now, I'm feeling a bit lost. A bit like I have let the balance that I've been working so carefully to achieve has been blown over. I don't know how to pick it all up again. Suddenly, its become more than just the simple fight....it's so much more. Nothing seems to fit anymore...nothing seems to work. The careful plotting of points in my life are all gone

. Right now, it seems like all I can do is upset people and make them mad at me. Which then makes me just want to hide under my covers. Which in turn makes me wonder why in the world did life happen the way it happens? Can't I be an adult first and work my way to childhood? That the freedom being 12 and it's summer break should be the reward for putting up with bullshit for the previous 65 years. I don't know how to make the emptiness go away.

All I know how to do is pick through the rubble and decide what to keep and what to finally let go of.

And maybe tomorrow....I'll finally get something right this week....

"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman."

Anaïs Nin

007

Who is 007 you ask? He was/is my friend for a few years. Recently he made a job change that prompted me to name him 007 ... well ... his job change and his rock hard abs that he somehow got in the last few months. I know because he sent me a picture.
If I had abs like his I would walk around in just a sports bra. Seriously.
And no, I won't post them for your enjoyment. Those are just for me. How did this friendship cross the line into no man's land?
Via a simple text. 007 lives a few hours from me and one day we were texting back and forth about how I should come visit him. I texted (as I tend to do with lots of my friends)
'kisses' and I got back...
"Can I have a real one?"
Thinking he was joking, even though someplace deep inside me was hoping that I could finally finally kiss this very good looking friend whom ,I'll be honest, had a crush on for the first year of our friendship I replied back
"Sure"
What did 007 say back to me?
"I've waited a long time to kiss you."
Uh. Hello?! Swoon!
It quickly snowballed into the whole, "what?! I've liked you for a long time!"
Needless to say, we've been texting back and forth quite a bit. Its kind of strange how this platonic friendship has taken a serious turn for the flirty. He somehow knows exactly when I need a text from him and something along the line of "I'm thinking about you" or "You are so beautiful" will appear on my phone. I've come to really love the sound of the pinging and the little red light flashing. Where is this going? You may ask. I have no idea. And I really don't want to care. What I want to do is to enjoy the little jolt of electricity that I get when I see a text from him, or when I see a call from him. I want to not think about when am I going to go see him or where is this headed. I especially don't want to hear that little voice in my head that wonders if he is lying or if he is being truthful. I don't want that jaded side to slip out and into my dreamy like state. I just want to love the fact that he knows pretty much all there is to know about me, all the bad, all the good, all the semi crazy.... and he still thinks I'm pretty. Since this is a pretty recent development and I've been unable to take a trip to see him , I have yet to kiss him. You all know what the delicious anticipation that comes with the waiting for that first kiss. That wonderful feeling of electricity that hits your lips as you imagine what it would be like to have him lean into you space, his scent coming over you and invading your senses so that all you can think is 'oh...that's what a man smells like'. And as he gets closer, he places a hand on your head to draw you in. There's nothing like that first moment when he finally places his lips on yours.

Tonight, think about it...who would you really like to kiss...right now?

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

While sitting at work today, one of my co-workers and I discussed how freakin' happy we were that tomorrow is a half day for us. And that such joyful moments deserve celebration ...hence the Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

I was going to make egg shaped sugar cookies as well but I drove all over looking for an egg shaped cookies cutter without any luck. So I came home and made these instead.

I'm pretty excited to chow down on them in tomorrow morning's meeting!!

What You Need:

1 cup Butter softened

1 cup Sour Cream (best if cold cold cold)

4 Extra Large Eggs

2 1/4 cup Sour Cream

1 TBS Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt 1/2 Tsp Vanilla

Topping-

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Flour

2 TBS Cinnamon

1/4 stick butter, melted

What You Do:

Preheat the oven to 375 Grease and flour the cupcake pan....unless your using muffin tins Mix sugar, eggs, sour cream, vanilla and butter until well blended
In a second mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients until smooth Fill the muffin tins halfway full

To make the topping

Mix all ingredients until they look pebbles. Sprinkle the yummy goodness on the uncooked batter Cook the muffins for 10 min. But keep an eye on them. They will be done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Extras !!!
*Instead of vanilla in the batter try almond or orange extract

*To glaze the muffins, I used a mixture of powdered sugar and milk. Whisking it together with butter flavoring and vanilla.

Buffalo Chicken Potatoes

I had made plans to meet up with Butterfly Guy... I know I know.
But per his usual deflection, he had 'this thing' and well...it just didn't happen. The nice thing about his losing his shine is that tonight, I didn't really care that much. Instead, I texted my sister to let her know I was going to make dinner. And then spent my commute home wondering what I was going to make. I realized I had a few things in my fridge that I could use. One quick trip to Trader Joe's for some sour cream and chicken and voila! Buffalo Chicken Potato's!

Creamy sour cream, tangy spicy chicken, potatoes and cheese! It was easy easy easy!
And just for some nutritional value I baked some brussel sprouts.

What you need:
2 Chicken Breasts
7 Yukon Gold Potatoes (cut in fourths and boiled)
1/3 cup hot sauce (I used Paula Deen's)
2 Tbs Ketchup
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 Tsp Celery Salt
Salt and Peeper to taste

What You Do:
Turn your oven to 350
Boil some water and toss the chicken in, cook until done and then shred the chicken
Toss the shredded chicken with the hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, salt and pepper and celery salt
Spread the chicken mixture over the potatoes and bake for 20 min
Sprinkle cheese all over the yummy goodness and let melt until bubby and yummy

Serve it up with sour cream and chives
Its sooo good!

Afterward my sister and I rode our bikes to the market.
What a wonderful night!!

Spring is here....

How do I know this? Because there are so many yummy things at the Farmer's Market that I can nosh on. This past weekend, I went to the market to get some veggies for the next week and ended up with a full basket of goodies. For lunch, I ended up making a huge plate of salad. I cut fresh tender avocados, firm spicy radishs, juicy cucumbers and ripe tomatoes. I covered the whole thing with a few pepperonis, some hearts of palm and salty feta cheese.

It was the perfect salad to end the weekend on.

As I was cutting up the tomatoes, I was hit with a powerful scent memory from when I was growing up. Tomatoes and I have a long and serious relationship. From the first time I convinced my little sister to go out to my mom's garden with a salt shaker to now when I walk into a farmer's market I have loved the little jewels of tender flavor.

There is something earthy and homey about the scent of the tomatoes. They are so very tender but surprising resilient. It doesn't take much to bring out the flavor either. Just a tiny touch of firm pressure, a little seasoning and your hit with such strong wonderfully developed complex flavors. It really doesn't take much to open up the array of possibilities that a simple tomato offers.

When I was young, my mom planted tomatoes every year. There was nothing better than taking a salt shaker out to huge fenced in garden, stepping gingerly past the rows of squash, beans, corn, bell peppers and cucumbers to walk barefoot in the warm dirt to the tomato plants. Plucking one ripe, robust, red tomato straight from the vine, licking the warm flesh so the salt will stick and the biting into it like it's an apple is the definition of summer.

So when I got my veggie treat's home.... I couldn't help myself. I indulged my inner child, closing my eyes to imagine myself back in my childhood home. Where the air was sweeter, summer was infinite and my biggest concern was the tomato juice dripping down my chin in the garden at dusk.